How we verify every rule

Where the rules come from

• Official sources only. State rules come from the U.S. Department of Labor's state tables, state labor department websites and state legislature websites. Commercial summaries are never used as a source.
• A saved copy of every source. Each source page is saved with its address and the date it was fetched, so any rule can be traced back to the exact text it came from.

How we verify a rule

1. A literal quotation. The text supporting a rule is quoted word for word, and an automated check confirms the quotation exists in the saved source page.
2. Numbers that match. Every number in a rule (days, hours, amounts) has to appear in the quoted text.
3. An official domain. The source has to be a government or state legislature website.
4. Two matching sources. A rule is published only when two official sources agree, for example the statute and the state labor department. If they disagree, the rule is marked unverified and does not appear. Each rule shows how many official sources it was checked against.
5. A verification date. Every rule shows the date it was last checked.

Keeping rules current

• Sources are fetched again on a schedule. When the text of a source changes, the rules based on it go back through the checks.
• A rule is queued for a new check 150 days after it was last verified.
• A rule that has not been re-verified within 180 days is removed from the Desk automatically, until it passes the checks again.
• Rules can also be put on hold after an audit; a rule on hold is treated as not verified.

When we have not verified a rule

If a rule for your state is missing or not yet verified, the Desk does not guess. It says "We have not verified this rule for your state yet" and links to the official source to check, usually a page from your state labor department or the list of state labor offices.

Data products and their limits

• The verified rules are also published as data files (JSON and CSV), with the same sources and verification dates as the pages.
• Where the Desk shows public enforcement data (for example cases closed by the U.S. Department of Labor), it is a record of investigations that the agency completed. Enforcement data is not a violation rate: it depends on where investigators looked and on complaints filed, so it cannot tell you how common a problem is in a state or an industry.
• Any figure we calculate ourselves is labelled as an estimate, with the method next to it.

Employer size thresholds and posters

• Thresholds. The number of employees at which a federal or state law starts to apply is a record with the law's own words, checked word for word against the saved official page, and a second official source on a different government website (for example the statute and the agency that enforces it). Each law counts employees in its own way, so the counting rule is quoted next to the number. See employment laws by number of employees.
• Posters. Each federal poster requirement is quoted from the regulation that requires it and checked against a second official source. State posters are listed exactly as they appear on the state's official poster page, which we save; the page is the authority and the date it was checked is shown. See labor law posters by state.
• Same rules as above. Unverified thresholds or poster pages are never shown as fact: the tools say "Pending verification" and link to the official source.

Hiring data and hiring laws

• Wages. Pay percentiles come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) estimates for May 2025, released May 15, 2026, by occupation for the U.S., each state and DC, and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. They are copied as published: values BLS does not publish (not available, or above its reporting limit) are shown as not published, never filled in or replaced by a threshold. The only figures we calculate (an approximate percentile, an hourly rate from a yearly offer) are labelled as estimates with the method.
• Job tasks. O*NET: This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
• Unemployment rates. State rates from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (2026-08, preliminary); the U.S. rate from the BLS Current Population Survey (series LNS14000000), because LAUS has no national series. Shown as context only.
• Job outlook. From the BLS Employment Projections (2025-35).
• Hiring laws. Salary history bans, ban-the-box rules, protected classes, pay ranges in job postings and the federal rules on pre-employment questions are records like the state rules above: quoted word for word from the saved primary source (the statute or regulation where we could collect it, otherwise the agency page or a court opinion that quotes the law, and the link text says which), a second official source on a different government website, and the date both were checked. The protected classes shown for a state are those named by the source linked in its cell. A state without a verified record says that it may have a rule, with a link to the official text we found, or that we have not reviewed it yet, never "no law". City and county laws are not covered.

Used in the salary comparison tool, the job description template, the illegal interview questions by state.

Money data: where the numbers come from

• Profit margins and cost ratios. IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) industry tables for sole proprietorships, tax year 2023; S corporations (Form 1120-S), tax year 2022; partnerships, tax year 2023, retrieved Sep 28, 2026. The release lines printed on the tables: "SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns 2023, March 2026"; "Source: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, 2022 Publication 16, September 2025."; "Source: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Partnerships, April 2025." Cells the IRS marks as based on a small sample keep their value and carry the IRS caution; cells the IRS deletes to avoid disclosure are shown as "not disclosed".
• Businesses in your county. U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 (released Jun 26, 2025) and Nonemployer Statistics 2023 (released May 15, 2025), retrieved Sep 28, 2026. Census adds noise to employment, payroll and receipts to protect individual businesses and publishes a noise flag (low, moderate or high) for each of those cells; we keep the flag with the figure. Cells Census does not publish (for example industries with fewer than 3 establishments in a county, or size classes marked not available) are not shown and never estimated.
• Employment and pay by industry. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), 2025 annual averages, private ownership, retrieved Sep 28, 2026. Where BLS withholds employment and pay to avoid disclosing a business, we show "not disclosed" and keep only the establishment count BLS still publishes.
• How long new businesses last. BLS Business Employment Dynamics, establishment age and survival, data through March 2025, retrieved Sep 28, 2026. State figures cover all private businesses only; industry figures are national.
• SBA loans. U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a) and 504 loan data, as of Jun 30, 2026, retrieved Sep 28, 2026. We count loans by state and industry ourselves; groups with fewer than 10 loans are not shown. The charge-off rate is computed by us among loans already closed (paid in full or charged off), using the older approval years where most loans have run their course. The SBA data dictionary defines the lender field (BankName) as the "Name of the bank that the loan is currently assigned to", so it names today's holder of the loan, not necessarily the lender that made it; for that reason we do not publish lender names or lender rankings.
• Profit margin calculator. Your gross margin, net margin or markup is computed in your browser and compared with the figure from IRS Statistics of Income for your industry: nonfarm sole proprietorship returns (Schedule C), tax year 2023. The IRS gross margin is business receipts minus cost of sales and operations, and the net margin is net income less deficit, each divided by business receipts, computed by InterObservers from the official totals. A sole proprietor's net income includes the owner's own pay.
• Ratios are ours, the totals are official. Margins, cost ratios, averages per business and rates are computed by InterObservers from the official totals, with the formula shown next to the figure. They are industry aggregates (an industry total divided by an industry total), not the figures of a typical business.
• Freshness. Most of these sources are released once a year. Every figure shows its reference period and the date we retrieved it from the official files.
• General information. The figures describe industries, not your business, and are not financial or tax advice.

Used in the county business patterns, the average profit margin by industry, the break-even point calculator, the profit margin calculator.

Conversation data: where the numbers and the law records come from

• EEOC charges. Counts of charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, copied from Table E1a. Charge Receipts by Basis or Statute (All Statutes) FY 1997 - FY 2025 (national, FY 1997 to FY 2025) and Table E1b. Charge Receipts, by State (includes U.S. Territories) and Basis or Statute (All Statutes), FY 2009 - FY 2025 (61 jurisdictions: the 50 states, DC, 6 territories, 3 freely associated states and 1 military mail code, FY 2009 to FY 2025), retrieved Sep 29, 2026. The Desk uses FY 2025, the latest year in both tables.
• How a share is computed. The share of charges naming a basis (for example retaliation) is that basis's count divided by the Total Charges of the same row of the same table. A charge can name several bases, so bases are never added up; the EEOC notes in its tables that "the sum of data across statutes, bases, or issues will exceed actual totals" (EEOC Table E1a). A cell the EEOC suppressed is shown as not published, never estimated, and a share is not shown when the row has fewer than 30 charges.
• NLRB charges. National totals of unfair labor practice charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board, FY 2021 to FY 2025 (19,754 in FY 2025), each copied from the sentence quoted from that year's own NLRB report: NLRB Performance and Accountability Report, FY 2021 (Internet Archive copy of Jul 22, 2026), NLRB Performance and Accountability Report, FY 2022 (Internet Archive copy of Jul 22, 2026), NLRB Performance and Accountability Report, FY 2023 (Internet Archive copy of Jul 22, 2026), NLRB Performance and Accountability Report, FY 2024 (Internet Archive copy of Jul 22, 2026) and NLRB Performance and Accountability Report, FY 2025 (Internet Archive copy of Sep 10, 2026). They count charges against employers and against unions together, and there are no state figures. Each report was read from an Internet Archive copy of the official nlrb.gov address (the date of each copy is given above), taken no more than 90 days before we retrieved it, because nlrb.gov did not answer from our build server; the official address is the one cited.
• Federal protections. 22 verified records name 17 distinct kinds of protected employee activity under 10 federal laws; 1 more record is not verified yet and is shown only with a link to the official text. The script builder's risk check groups the 17 kinds into 10 categories you can tick. Each record quotes the statute word for word, and an automated check confirms the quote in our saved copy of the official page. A second official source on a different government website has to agree. A record also has to pass our checks for a repealed section and for an outdated copy of the law, and it is removed if it has not been re-verified within 180 days.
• The risk light is general information. It is set by the categories you pick, not by the facts of your case, and it cites the federal law behind it. It is not legal advice and not a prediction of what an agency or court would decide. State and local laws can add protections.

Used in the difficult conversation script builder.

Performance data: where the tasks, skills and phrases come from

• Source. The tasks, skills and work activities come from the O*NET® 31.0 Database (August 2026) of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), downloaded from the O*NET database page. 923 of the 1,016 occupations in the O*NET taxonomy have job data in this release; the other 93 have no task, rating, job zone or related-occupation rows and are not listed.
• What we select. For each occupation, the core tasks (the O*NET data dictionary defines them as "tasks that are critical to the occupation. The criteria for these tasks are (a) relevance ≥ 67% and (b) a mean importance rating of ≥ 3.0"), at most 10, ordered by importance, with ties broken by O*NET task ID. 910 occupations have at least one core task. For 84 of the 706 occupations with more than 10 core tasks, the next task has the same importance as the last one shown, so the task ID decides. Then up to 8 skills (O*NET Essential Skills and Transferable Skills) and up to 8 work activities, ordered by importance, then by level, then by element ID. Importance, level and relevance values are copied as published in the O*NET database.
• What we leave out. An item whose importance is flagged for suppression in the O*NET data (its "Recommend Suppress" low-precision indicator) is left out; additionally, a skill or work activity marked not relevant for the occupation is left out (4,642 more ratings in this release, not counting the ones already left out for suppression). A level or relevance value flagged for suppression is left empty (671 values), never estimated. 186 task statements without a task type (and without any ratings) are not used.
• Occupations with an empty list. The O*NET database has no task ratings for 12 occupations in this release, so the builder shows their task statements unranked and has no skills or work activities for them. In addition, 1 rated occupation has no task marked core in the O*NET data, so its task list is empty; 1 rated occupation has no skill ratings in this release. In the API, each occupation file with an empty list says why.
• Release check. We check the O*NET database page for a newer release. The data is labeled current only while our last check found no newer release and is at most 45 days old; otherwise the page says a release check is due. Status at this build: O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), latest release as checked Sep 29, 2026.
• License and credit. The O*NET license terms say: "Except as noted below, the content of the O*NET 31.0 Database is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License". We credit the database with the line the O*NET license terms give for modified use: "This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. InterObservers has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications." (O*NET license terms).
• Our own wording. The 5-level rating scale and the review phrases are InterObservers' own wording, not O*NET data. They are not a validated assessment instrument; they are a starting point for a manager's own review.

Used in the performance review template for any job. The same data is published as JSON in the Employer Desk API.

The self evaluation template uses the same O*NET items, ranking, caps and five rating levels. Its first person example sentences (one per level for each of the 76 O*NET skills and work activities, generic sentences for task statements, and prompts for each written section) are InterObservers wording, checked by a validator at every build: written about observable work, no protected characteristics or protected activity, no numbers or claims, US spelling, and never a copy of the O*NET element description.

Pay data: how the paycheck math is done and checked

• Federal income tax withholding. The percentage method of IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Worksheet 1A, the method for automated payroll systems, with the Form W-4 from 2020 or later: the pay is annualized, the Step 4 amounts and the standard adjustment are applied, the tentative yearly amount comes from the table for the filing status (or the Step 2 checkbox table) and is divided back to one pay period, the Step 3 credits for the period are subtracted (never below zero), and the extra withholding of Step 4(c) is added.
• Social Security and Medicare. Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500 for the year, paid by the employee and matched by the employer. Medicare is 1.45% on all wages, matched by the employer; the Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% is withheld from the employee only, on wages above $200,000 in the year, with no employer match.
• Federal unemployment tax (FUTA). FUTA is 6% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages; with the full credit of 5.4% for state unemployment tax paid on time, the net rate the calculators use is 0.6%. Section 125 cafeteria plan deductions are left out of the FUTA wage base (IRS Publication 15).
• State unemployment tax (SUTA). The new-employer rate on the state's taxable wage base, from the U.S. Department of Labor summary of state unemployment insurance laws. An employer with a rating history pays the rate the state assigns to it instead.
• State withholding and contributions. Each state's own method, from its revenue department's current withholding document, with the inputs of its own withholding certificate, plus the state payroll contributions where they apply (California State Disability Insurance, Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave premiums, WA Cares Fund premiums, Colorado FAMLI premiums). Each state's rounding rule is followed as its document states it.
  • Texas: no state income tax on wages (Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts).
  • California: Method B, Exact Calculation Method (California Withholding Schedules for 2026), annual payroll period prorated to the pay period (California Employment Development Department).
  • Florida: no state income tax on wages (Florida Department of Revenue).
  • Wisconsin: Alternate Method of Withholding Wisconsin Income Tax, Publication W-166 (1/26), Withholding Tax Guide (tables and method effective for withholding periods beginning on or after January 1, 2022, in force for 2026) (Wisconsin Department of Revenue).
  • Ohio: Optional Computer Formula (Rev. 07/26), Employer Withholding Taxes, effective August 1, 2026 (the matching Percentage Method tables of the same date give the same result) (Ohio Department of Taxation).
  • Illinois: Automated payroll method, Booklet IL-700-T (R-12/25), Illinois Withholding Tax Tables, effective January 1, 2026 (Illinois Department of Revenue).
  • Washington: no state income tax on wages (Washington Employment Security Department).
  • Georgia: Percentage method (Tables E and F), flat rate, Employer's Withholding Tax Guide 2026 (revised June 2026) (Georgia Department of Revenue).
  • Michigan: Direct percentage computation, Form 446 (Rev. 02-26), 2026 Michigan Income Tax Withholding Guide (Michigan Department of Treasury).
  • Tennessee: no state income tax on wages (Tennessee Department of Revenue).
  • Alabama: Formula For Computing Alabama Withholding Tax (Withholding Tax Tables and Instructions for Employers and Withholding Agents, revised January 2026) (Alabama Department of Revenue).
  • Colorado: Colorado Withholding Worksheet for Employers (DR 1098) for 2026: annualized wages minus the annual withholding allowance, times the flat rate (Colorado Department of Revenue).
  • Missouri: Percentage formula withholding, annual payroll period table (Employer's Tax Guide Form 4282, revised 03-2026) (Missouri Department of Revenue).
  • Arizona: Arizona Form A-4 withholding percentage election (a percentage of gross taxable wages chosen by the employee) (Arizona Department of Revenue).
  • Oklahoma: Percentage formula method, annual payroll period table (Packet OW-2, 2026 Oklahoma Income Tax Withholding Tables) (Oklahoma Tax Commission).
  • Indiana: Departmental Notice #1 deduction constant method (state rate and county rate on wages minus the exemption constants) (Indiana Department of Revenue).
  • Maryland: Percentage method of withholding, 2026 Maryland Employer Withholding Guide (state schedule from 4.75% plus the local rate chart of the county of residence) (Comptroller of Maryland).
• Local taxes. The calculators include these local income taxes: Ohio: a local rate you enter (the calculator does not look it up); Alabama: a local rate you enter (the calculator does not look it up); Missouri: Kansas City and City of St. Louis, with the rates of the state's guide; Indiana: the county income tax, with the county rates of the state's own table; Maryland: the county income tax, with the county rates of the state's own table.
• Per paycheck and per year. The paycheck figures are for one paycheck early in the year, before any yearly wage base is reached. The yearly figures are the full year at the same pay, with every wage base and cap applied. For Social Security and Medicare, the yearly amount is the paycheck amount times the number of paychecks, unless the year's pay crosses the Social Security wage base or the Additional Medicare Tax threshold.
• How each number is checked. Every number the calculators use (281 facts across the federal and state files) is tied to an official document that is stored as a snapshot, and to a quote copied word for word from it. An automated check confirms that the quote is in the stored document and that the number is in the quote. Rates, amounts, tables and wage bases must also be stated by a second, different official document. For 50 state figures that second document is a federal payroll summary, a USDA National Finance Center bulletin that restates the state's formula for federal payroll; the page labels those figures as restated in a federal payroll summary, next to the state's own document. The one exception is a constant of the withholding method document itself, a number the agency prints only in that document (today: IRS Publication 15-T: Worksheet 1A line 1g): it rests on that one document and is labeled single-source on the page, like a form name, a procedure or a rounding rule that only one official document states. The formulas are run against the worked examples an agency prints, where it prints them, and against at least three cases per state worked by hand from the official formula. A state that fails any check is not published.
• Not covered. A Form W-4 from 2019 or earlier, with withholding allowances. Local income taxes other than those listed above. Oregon is not covered yet: some of its 2026 withholding figures are stated in only one official document, so they cannot pass the two-source check; it is checked again in the next update. The other 32 states and DC have no calculator here yet; they come in later updates.
• Tax year. The calculators use tax year 2026, the documents in force for wages paid now. The IRS posts the next year's Publication 15-T late in the year, with earlier versions on its page of forms and publications not yet final (IRS status at our last check: not published as of 2026-09-29); when the 2027 documents are out, the numbers are read again from them, go through the same checks, and the pages move to the new tax year.
• General information. The results are estimates of what a payroll system would withhold, not tax advice. The employee's actual tax for the year is settled on the tax return.

Used in the paycheck calculators for Texas, California, Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Washington, Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama, Colorado, Missouri, Arizona, Oklahoma, Indiana, Maryland. The hourly to salary calculator converts gross pay only (no taxes). The same numbers, each with its official quote, are published as JSON in the Employer Desk API.

How the templates are written

• The templates follow the structure described in public guidance from the Department of Labor, the EEOC and the SBA, in neutral language, with fields for you to complete.
• Clauses that depend on the state (such as final-pay timing) are linked to the rule for your state, with the same checks as above.
• Every page passes an automated check that blocks unsupported legal claims, invented experience and promises.
• The templates are free, self-help starting points. We do not prepare documents for individual cases and do not give legal advice.

Corrections

If you find a rule that is wrong or out of date, use the "Report an error" link under the rule or our corrections form. We review every report within 48 hours. A reported rule is re-checked against its official sources; if it no longer matches, it is corrected or taken down, and the change is logged with its date in the changelog of that state's rulebook. See our corrections policy.

What happens to what you type

The documents are filled in and generated in your browser. What you type is not sent to InterObservers and is not stored. Your state choice and checklist ticks are saved in your own browser's storage so the pages open in your state next time. See our privacy policy.

Who is behind it

The Desk is part of InterObservers. The research pipeline uses AI models to read official pages and extract candidate rules; the automated checks above decide what is published. Our about page explains how the site is produced and paid for.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: State labor laws
• U.S. Department of Labor: State labor offices
• EEOC: Small business
• SBA: Hire and manage employees

Checked Oct 6, 2026 · How we verify every rule · Report an error

Related

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